'God raises up those in authority': 4 highlights from Mike Johnson’s first speech as House speaker

By Michael Gryboski, Mainline Church Editor Thursday, October 26, 2023

'A very dangerous time'

A man checks the interior of a house damaged in the October 7 attack by Palestinian Hamas terrorists on kibbutz Beeri near the border with Gaza on October 14, 2023. Thousands of people, both Israeli and Palestinians have died since October 7, 2023, after Hamas militants entered Israel in a surprise attack, leading Israel to declare war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip enclave on October 8. | THOMAS COEX/AFP via Getty Images

Johnson said that while he believes that right now is "a very dangerous time" and "the world is in turmoil," he declared that "a strong America is good for the entire world."

"We are the beacon of freedom, and we must preserve this grand experiment in self-governance," he said. "We're only 247 years into this grand experiment; we don't know how long it will last."

"We're in a time of extraordinary crisis right now, and the world needs us to be strong; they need us to remember our creed and our admonition."

Johnson touched on the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas, vowing that "the first bill that I'm going to bring to this floor in just a little while will be in support of our dear friend, Israel."

"We're going to show not only Israel, but the entire world that the barbarism of Hamas that we have all seen play out in our television screens is wretched and wrong," he said. "We are going to stand for the good in that conflict."

He also spoke of the dangers presented by the wave of illegal immigration and the ongoing fentanyl crisis, declaring that "we must come together and address the broken border."